


Death In Paradise

by Zooropey



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Character Death, M/M, Past Rape/Non-con, The death is at the beginning - its Death in Paradise and always starts with murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-08 01:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21467542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zooropey/pseuds/Zooropey
Summary: An angry or agitated Commissioner strolling into the Police House was definitely not unusual but this time Jack was wracking his mind to think what he might have done wrong!“DI Mooney” the Commissioner  bellowed  in greeting “I need your assistance up at the High Point Resort.  It’s a somewhat delicate matter”.***************Jack Mooney and his team are called to the exclusive High Point Resort when Ben Cardell, music industry mogul and face of “Find Me a Star” is discovered murdered.  The band with whom he was holidaying turn out to all have motives, and they have a reputation as fiery self absorbed divas.  However DI Mooney soon figures out that things aren't always what you expect.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30
Collections: HL TV SHOW FIC FEST 2019





	1. Introduction - The Police House

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for the HL TV Show fic fest, it's a One Direction inspired episode of Death In Paradise. The victim is not meant to represent any one person but is a characterisation of all the worst aspects of what we know of the show business world. He is entirely fictional - although some of you may wish to associate him with a person of your imaginations choice.
> 
> Obviously I do not know any member of One Direction and any behaviours or story elements aligned to any of them in this work are also entirely fictional.
> 
> Anyway this was really hard to write - and I have a new respect for murder mystery writers. I hope you enjoy it and are happy with the therapeutic ending.

The Police House

It was a quiet day in the police office. Jack didn’t like a quiet start, things always went left of field on a quiet day. Outside he could see a motor bike approaching, a trail of dust in its wake, a figure hunched over the handlebars.

He watched the rider approach which a sense of foreboding. His quiet day was about to take a turn for the worst he already knew it! 

The rider drew up outside the front veranda and Dwayne, one of his two non ranking police officers, came charging into the office. “Commissioner’s on his way over” he panted out “He looks mad as hell!”

An angry or agitated Commissioner strolling into the Police House was definitely not unusual but this time Jack was wracking his mind to think what he might have done wrong!

Well he was about to find out as the Commissioners car was now fast approaching bringing its’ own cloud of dust along behind it.

He noted that Dwayne was easing himself behind the corner desk, edging up against the white board, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. He was going to provide no back up for Jack!

“Florence” he called into the back room and was relieved when he heard soft footsteps approaching the office. “Yes Sir” a softly spoken French accent replied and then “Oh” as the Commissioner strode into the room, flushed of face.

“DI Mooney” the Commissioner bellowed in greeting “I need your assistance up at the High Point Resort. It’s a somewhat delicate matter”. 

The High Point Resort was the most exclusive on the Island of Saint Marie, where Jack had been based for the last two years. Owned by Marsten Hotels it was a high security and very private destination for the rich and famous holidaymakers, who required anonymity and seclusion for a break or other reasons. Jack had often suspected the hotel was also a hideout for less salubrious purposes. But of course the owner, as with all powerful people on the Island, was a personal friend of the Commissioner and hence questions were not asked unnecessarily.

“There has been a somewhat unfortunate death this morning,” the Commissioner stated, cutting off Jack’s train of thought.

“What? Who” Dwayne piped up. 

When everyone’s heads turned his way he shrugged and shuffled his feet a bit, “Been seeing a young lady that works there recently,” he revealed. 

“Dwayne you have young ladies everywhere, just never for long” Florence pointed out.

“It wasn’t an employee” the Commissioner stated grimly “It was Ben Cardell”

“What the Ben Cardell, music industry mogul and face of “Find Me a Star” international talent show?” Florence asked.

Jack had no idea who that was but the Commissioner looked panic stricken and nodded, stating “This can go no further and must be treated with the utmost sensitivity. I need you to go up there straightaway and to sort out what has happened”.

“Right away” Jack replied. Florence could fill him in on who this Ben was on the way up to the resort in the police jeep. 

“Dwayne go fetch JP and meet us up there” he instructed as everyone quickly emptied out of the Police House.


	2. The High Point Resort

The resort was at the very North tip of the Island and about an hours drive, during which time Florence briefed Jack on what the police files had on record about the resort. In order to preserve the privacy of the rich and famous guests who resided there periodically the hotel operated on minimal staff and all were heavily vetted.

There was also security around the perimeter making it unlikely that anyone had slipped secretly onto the grounds during the previous night. 

Jack and Florence saw for the security for themselves when they reached the perimeter of the resort. The grounds were surrounded by a tall metal fence which stretched for as far as the eye could see and probably down to the beach and sea line. Where the road intersected with the fence there was a large steel gate and an intercom button.

Jack pressed the button and announced that it was DI Mooney. “Ah Inspector Mooney” a well spoken female voice responded “ just drive through, your colleagues just arrived”. The gates made a creaking noise and opened slowly.

Once on the other side of the gate the road narrowed down into a single track lane, which continued for around 10 minutes until the trees cleared and a beautiful wooden ranch style building came into view. Along the first floor, at the front, ran a large veranda upon which two young men were currently sitting with legs dangling through the railings with bare feet. The taller one with long curly dark hair was clearly upset, tears streaming down his face, whilst his companion, a smaller delicate looking man, was staring ahead looking venomously angry. 

Jack would have thought the two men might have been having a fight if it wasn’t for the fact they they were clutching each other’s hands tightly and that the smaller man was very gently and obviously affectionately stroking the taller man’s hair with his free hand.

“Oh!” said Florence, her voice laced with shock. 

Jack slowed the car to a stop and looked over to his colleague. “That’s Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction” Florence continued. “I recognise them from all the press about the ructions in the group a few months back. Apparently Harry and Louis are barely on speaking terms and cannot bare to spend time together outside of work, there was speculation the band would split”

“Hmmm” Jack looked back toward the two men, the smaller was now looking at the taller and brushing the tears from his cheeks in a way that spoke of so much affection that he very much doubted there had ever been any animosity there. “I have come to believe that one should never believe what you read in the papers, our eyes are the only route to the truth of any situation, and I am guessing we will need both eyes and good instincts to get to the bottom of what happened here last night!”.

With that prediction Jack removed the keys from the ignition and opened the car door to walk toward the main entrance of the building. Just before entering he and Florence looked back again toward the two men who were now facing each other, foreheads resting together. No definitely not mortal enemies then!

Entering into the foyer of the hotel Jack noted a large airy entrance hall with a reception desk to the left. At the desk there was a pretty blond receptionist who Dwayne was currently flirting with whilst JP looked down at his feet, as ever made uncomfortable by his brash colleague. JP was the youngest of the four person police force on the Island, having only just completed training school and returned to his home to take up his post 6 months earlier. His kindness and integrity meant that he quickly came to be adored by all his colleagues, although sometimes his tendency to see the best in everyone got in the way of rooting out the villains.

“DI Mooney, I presume” came a male voice from their right. Jack turned to see a well dressed man in his mid 40s striding forward, his arm outstretched for a hand shake. “You presume correctly, and you are?” Jack asked. “Sam Jones, Manager” the man replied. “I am afraid the Marsten family are away on holiday at present so I am in charge during this unfortunate incident. Only myself and Rita, he nodded toward the receptionist, were on duty last night and I have told the rest of the staff not to come in, in order to ensure privacy whilst you investigate the um event”.

“Very wise” Jack replied, knowing it was more to protect the guests then aid the investigation that people were being kept away, but also appreciating that it would make interviewing the suspects easier if there are less of them. “I wonder if we might go to your office or somewhere private to discuss things in more detail?” he enquired.

“Certainly. Follow me” Mr Jones responded, leading them over toward the reception and through a door to side where the office was situated. Jack beckoned for the other three officers to follow, offering a polite nod of acknowledgment to Rita the receptionist as they passed.

They all squeezed into the small office, Mr Jones taking a seat behind the desk. “Ok so let’s start with some background details.” Jack ventured, getting straight down to business.

“When did your guests arrive?”

“Well the five young men arrived three days ago. “The victim, erh Mr Cardell, dropped them off and then left. They seemed in good spirits and spent their first two nights together in the bar. That all changed when Mr Cardell returned the third day. It seemed like the young men were not expecting him and there was some tension. The men sat in the bar for a while and I served them, but then three of them left, leaving Mr Cardell and the other two in the bar until Mr Cardell also left to go to his room. 

Rita saw the other three off and on, from reception, as they came in and out of the building. There were harsh words exchanged during the afternoon, but it’s our policy not to compromise resident’s privacy so we tried to make ourselves scarce and definitely avoided listening in. Well that is until Mr Styles came into the foyer in tears at around 11pm distraught and telling us that he had discovered Mr Cardell’s body in the grounds outside”.

Jack hummed thoughtfully, it seemed that there were definitely under currents with the band, and hopefully he would find out more when he interviewed them individually. First however he wanted to speak to the receptionist Rita, given that she would have seen the comings and goings of the evening from behind the desk in the foyet.

“Do you have CCTV on the resort?” Jack asked. 

“Only in the foyer area for covering the reception and the office” Mr Jones replied. “It’s part of our confidentiality offer that the resident’s areas have full privacy.”

“Ok I should like to interview Rita next” Jack clarified. Could you show my two male colleagues here to the site where the body was found. When I have finished interviewing Rita I should like to view the CCTV footage if I may”.

“Certainly” Mr Jones acknowledged “Gentlemen follow me” he then beckoned and the room emptied out, leaving just Florence and Jack. 

“Florence, what are your initial thoughts?” Jack asked when he was sure they were alone. 

“I think it very likely that one of the group and Mr Cardell had a falling out that got out of hand” Florence considered. “I can’t help but recall the anger on Louis’s face when we pulled up earlier.”

“I think after we have interviewed Rita we should call the band together. You and I can interview them one at a time while Dwayne and JP stay in the room with the rest. Stop them communicating to cover for each other. But also ensure that everyone is safe if there is still a murderer on the loose!”

Florence nodded in agreement “Shall I call for Rita Sir?” 

“Yes go ahead” Jack instructed.

Florence left the room and came back in with the slightly nervous looking receptionist. 

“You wanted to see me Inspector Mooney?” Rita asked in her very well polished English accent. Jack suspected that was a learnt accent rather than a natural one as, being a native Englishman himself, he had rarely encountered people who actually spoke like that.

“Yes please. Do take a seat.” he responded gently. “You must have had a long tiring night. I will try not to keep you too long, but I do need to hear your account of what has happened here.”

“Of course Inspector” Rita responded taking a seat but leaving her back still ramrod straight, as if she had practiced the art of elegant sitting. “Where would you like me to start?”

“Perhaps from the arrival of your guests?” Jack prompted.

Rita nodded and then began. “Mr Cardell called about a month ago to book the resort. He said five rooms would need to be made up, but that he needed for the booking to be the sole one on the resort for the 2 week period. That’s not unusal” she continued “Many of our residents do not like to share the resort with people they don’t know. They are willing to pay a good price for their privacy.”

“It was convenient then that you did not already have booking in for this fortnight.” Jack reflected.

“Well” Rita clarified “This wasn’t the fortnight Mr Cardell originally tried to book, he had wanted for the boys to arrive last week, but we did already have a booking then so we agreed on the later start.”

“I see” Jack said thoughtfully. “You said five rooms? But there are five members and Mr Cardell, were two of the residents wishing to share?”

“Oh no” Rita flushed “The original booking was just for the band members, we were all surprised when Mr Cardell came back two days after dropping the boys off. I don’t think the boys were very pleased to see him, I heard them arguing yesterday afternoon.”

“Oh?” Jack felt his interest rising. “When was this?”

“Well Mr Cardell arrived at about 2pm and I was just checking him in, and about to call one of the maids to come make up an additional room, when Mr Styles came into the foyer. He looked shaken up when he saw Mr Cardell and I believe he swore. Mr Cardell turned to him and seemed to smirk. He told Mr Styles to fetch the rest of the boys and bring them to the bar, said he had important business to discuss.”

“What was Mr Styles's reaction to that?” Jack asked with interest.

“Well he looked agitated, I am not sure if he was upset or shocked, but at the time it looked like he was panicking. He certainly rushed off quickly back toward the rooms, supposedly to get the others as instructed”.

“What happened then?” Jack asked

“Well Mr Cardell went to the bar and I called for Sam, Mr Jones, to go to the bar to serve him, I also beeped the duty maid and messaged her to prepare a room. Next thing I know Mr Horan came to the desk, I think he had been to the beach as he was carrying a couple of shells in his hand, we do have some beautiful shells wash up on our beach. I informed him of Mr Cardell’s arrival and his request to meet in the bar.”

“How did Mr Horan respond to that news” Jack enquired.

“Well he seemed less troubled than Mr Styles, although I think I picked up some irritation. He thanked me and said he would drop off his things in his room and then go down to the bar. About five minutes passed then all five of the young men came down together.”

“How did they seem, was Mr Styles still agitated?” Jack enquired. Rita looked awkward at that question and broke eye contact. “Rita, I know the resort has a strong promise of confidentiality, but this is a murder investigation so you must tell me everything. I promise anything not pertinent to the case will be kept in absolute confidence.”

Rita nodded a little uncertainly, but continued. “Well Mr Styles looked like he had been crying and he was um holding Mr Tomlinson’s hand.” 

Jack assumed Rita had expected that statement to shock him, and it might have if he had not witnessed the two men on the veranda earlier, now he was already strongly suspecting a non platonic attachment there.

“And Mr Tomlinson?” he enquired calmly. “He, well, he looked furious, like he might kill Mr Cardell” Rita stuttered then as if realising what she just said. “Um not that … not that I am suggesting he did of course Inspector.”  
“Of course” Jack nodded calmly “And the other three gentlemen?”

“Well Mr Horan looked like he was trying to calm down Mr Tomilinson as he had hold of his free arm and was whispering quietly in his ear. Mr Malik looked almost as angry as Mr Tomlinson although he was just following behind and Mr Payne just looked slightly stoic walking next to him. He was the only one to acknowledge me with a small nod as they walked by and through into the bar”

“About five minutes later Sam came through from the bar” he said he had left to give the gentlemen some privacy as there had been a bit of an altercation. He stayed in reception with me while the voices from the bar grew louder until Mr Styles came running out, clearly distressed and headed outside. About 10 minutes later two of the other four boys came out, Mr Tomlinson and Mr Horan and I think headed towards their rooms.

“And Mr Cardell?” Jack asked.

“He came out about 5 minutes later and asked Sam for another drink while he waited for his room to be ready”. He asked if he could actually have one of the outside cabins made up rather than a room in the main building. He said he didn’t really want to put up with the ungrateful drama queens! He also said that the trip was going to be cut short and the group would be leaving the next day, although he would of course pay for the full two weeks!”

“Oh I see” said Jack “I wonder if that was as a result of the altercation or the cause of the altercation? Is that the last you saw of the gentleman that evening?” he continued.

“No Sir” Rita clarified. “Mr Cardell went back into the bar had a couple more drinks with Mr Malik and Mr Payne and then came and picked up his cabin keys, probably about an hour later and went outside, I presumed at the time to find his cabin. Mr Horan had come back down from his room just after Mr Cardell returned to the bar and had headed outside, I presumed to look for Mr Styles. He returned probably two hours later, to fetch Mr Tomlinson who left alone shortly after. I think Mr Malik and Mr Payne stayed in the bar all evening with Sam as I didn’t see them come back here until, well until after Mr Cardell was discovered after midnight.”

“I see” Jack acknowledged, scribbling down some notes in his leather bound notebook. “Did you speak to any of the men before the body was discovered?”

“Well sir” Rita nodded. “As I said Mr Horan came back into the foyer about two hours after he initially left. He came to the reception and asked if Mr Tomlinson was still in his room. I said I thought he was as I hadn’t seen him leave. He thanked me and commented on how hot it was even this late at night and then headed off toward the rooms. Five minutes later Mr Tomlinson came through the foyet looking focussed, he strode straight through and outside, without even looking in my direction. That was it then until Mr Styles came running in around midnight in a total state of panic calling for a doctor or ambulance, having said that he and Mr Tomlinson had found Mr Cardell unconscious out in the grounds.”

“I think Sam filled you in on the rest already?” Rita asked.

“Yes he did” Jack reflected, “Thank you Rita you have been most helpful. Now Mr Jones suggested there was some CCTV footage from tonight, might we view that in the office please, before we conduct our other interviews?”

“Certainly” Rita nodded “I will fetch Sam and he can set the screen up to run it through for you”

Just as Rita left, Dwayne and JP arrived back carrying a large black evidence bag. “Sir we found a bloodied brick at the site where the body was found” Dwayne stated “looks like the possible murder weapon.” 

“OK Dwayne, I need you to run it down to the lab for me and get some tests done. See if there are DNA samples. Also I want a background check run on everyone who was here last night, Including Mr Cardell. Let’s see if there are any surprises. JP I need you to stay here, I have another mission for you to undertake while I interview the witnesses.”

“Ok Sir” both Dwayne and JP responded simultaneously, as Dwayne rushed out to fetch his motorbike.

Jack took JP into the office and explained to him what he needed him to do before the manager came back and helped set the CCTV up, leaving Jack and Florence to view it alone.

Watching the footage back confirmed Rita’s account of the events from the perspective of the foyet and firmed up some of the timings. The camera was angled in such a way that expressions were not always easy to read but certainly the agitation of the five boys as they went to meet Mr Cardell in the bar was clear, as was Mr Style’s state of upset as he later ran outside. Jack also thought he picked up on a grim sense of purpose in Mr Tomlinson as he strolled outside much later.

After they had watched the footage twice Jack slipped the disc out of the machine and put it in his pocket before turning to Florence. “I think we should start with Mr Styles he stated” Florence nodded, I was thinking that too Sir” she responded.


	3. Harry

Jack had instructed Florence to go and round up the five remaining hotel guests while he waited for them in the bar. As he waited he pondered on what he would find from his questioning. It was already clear that the victims arrival at the resort was not welcomed, but was it unexpected, had the murder been spur of the moment or pre-planned? 

After about 15 minutes of pacing Jack heard the five men enter the bar followed by Florence. First to enter was Mr Horan, looking comparatively relaxed, hands in the pockets of his clearly expensive tailored shorts. Next Mr Payne and Mr Malek came walking close together, arms brushing and speaking to each other in voices too low for him to make out the exact words. Last to enter were Mr Styles and Mr Tomlinson holding hands, both looking pale and agitated and frankly very jittery indeed.

“Afternoon Gentlemen” Jack greeted, beckoning towards the sofas in the lounge area of the bar. “Shall we sit for a bit,” he said, more of an instruction than a question. The five men made their way to a single sofa and sandwiched themselves in together. A quite impressive show of solidarity from a band whom, according to his briefing earlier today from Florence, were meant to not be without their tensions and rivalries.

“I am DI Mooney and I am sure you are all aware of why I am here” he began by way of introduction. “ I am hoping we can get to the bottom of what happened here last night and cost Mr Cardell his life. I will want to see you one at a time, but need to ask that the rest of you stay here with my colleague” he indicated toward Florence. “Having to come find you one by one will only make this painful experience take longer.”

He noted the look of discomfort on all five faces and decided it best to plough on. “Mr Styles” he said and watched the young curly haired man jump in apparent panic. 

“No!” Mr Tomlinson said holding his bandmates hand so tightly it looked like it might be turning blue. “Don’t take him first, he is too upset. I will go.”

Jack shook his head “I am sorry Sir, but Mr Styles is the one who found the body and that makes him the priority witness for now.” Softening his voice in recognition of the genuine concern he saw in the smaller man’s features he added “I promise to be gentle, I appreciate Mr Styles has been through a traumatic experience”. He then smiled softly at both men, trying to convey sincerity. It seemed to work as Styles turned to the other, nodded slightly, pecked him lightly on the lips and said “It’s OK Boo, it’s OK, I will be OK.” The other reached up and stroked his face in return and pressed a small kiss on the tip of his nose, “I will be right here when you get back” he said softly.

With that the taller man stood up and looked inquisitively at Jack, as if to ask where he should be going. Jack indicated toward the foyet and then lead Mr Styles to the office. Once inside he motioned for Harry to sit on the chair in front of the desk. Instead of sitting across the desk Jack pulled the other office chair around until it was next to Mr Styles, he needed to be able to fully observe the other man’s body language whilst he questioned him.

“Should I call you Mr Styles or would you prefer Harry” he asked to try and break the tension.

The other man gave a slight polite smile and said “I would prefer Harry please” he said softly.

“OK in that case you can call me Jack if it makes you feel more comfortable,” he suggested and the other man nodded “Ok Jack”.

“So I have some questions and I do need you to answer them honestly” Jack continued noting the awkward nod he received in acknowledgement. 

“Let’s start with the reason you guys are here?” 

“It was a short break, first we have had in two years, a sort of reward from Mr Cardell.” Harry replied.

“Two years!” Jack couldn’t help but exclaim “That’s a long time with no break.” 

“Yes” Harry stated simply but then continued “Management, erm Mr Cardell, would withhold breaks if we didn’t cooperate or messed up. We are not very good at co-operation and do often mess up”

“Mess up in what way?” Jack found himself asking.

“Well you see being a band isn’t just about making music, that we can do easily. It’s also the performance, and I don’t just mean what we do on the stage. Being One Direction is a lifestyle thing, we all have roles to play. Sometimes we forget to play those roles, or refuse to.” he added.

“All of you?” Jack pressed gently

“All of us to some extent, but I think Louis suffers the worst. His role is so far from who he really is and also he is really protective of all of us and stands up for us too. But that resistance leads to withholding of privileges. We all really needed a break and had made such an effort to play our parts for the last six months and finally we were rewarded with a break.” 

“And here it is private so you can be yourselves?” Jack said in realisation.

“Yes” Harry sniffed, wiping a small tear from his cheek. “We were looking forward to it so much. All of us, but especially Louis and I. You see, our public personas are supposed to not get on, even that is a punishment because we are in fact very far from being enemies.”

“I picked up on that” Jack thought out loud.

“Louis is my husband” Harry said. Now that did shock Jack!

“What, really?” he exclaimed.

“Yes. Secretly for three years now. Only the other boys and our immediate families know”.

“So Mr Cardell didn’t?” Jack enquired.

“God no! It’s a total breach of our contract, we aren’t allowed to get married or have a serious relationship and only to date partners selected for us” He revealed. “He did know about our feelings for each other though, we aren’t good at hiding them. That’s what many of the punishments were about. When we were too obviously fond in interviews, or in public. The worst thing was that all the boys suffered, even Niall who never did anything himself to cause friction.”

“So when Mr Cardell came back and cut your break short that must have been a huge blow” Jack reflected.

“Yes” Harry sniffled again. “His coming back was bad enough as we couldn’t be openly together in front of him for fear of retribution. But when he said we had to leave the next day for a surprise booking I really lost it.”

“Lost it enough to kill him?” Jack asked gently, although something told him this young man was not the one responsible for this man or indeed anyone’s death, there was a natural sort of purity that shone from his eyes and Jack was very rarely wrong about these things.” 

“God no!” Harry replied his face morphing into a look of horror. “I actually had a panic attack and ran off, I went out for fresh air but then I couldn’t stop running, I ran and ran until I came to the perimeter fence and then carried on running, following it down to the beach.”

“And no one followed you?” Jack commented thoughtfully

“Louis wanted to but he was too angry and knew that anger was the last thing I needed right then. He thought I would come back in and find him when I was ready to talk about it.”

“But you didn’t” Jack commented. 

“No” Harry said “I stayed on the beach until it got dark and then I stayed watching the stars trying to decide what to do. I didn’t think I could go on seeing Louis every day but not being able to be with him. I needed a solution, but I knew that if I said that to Louis he would suggest he leave the band again and I couldn’t let him do that.”

“In the end Louis came out and found me. He joined me on that beach and just held me, telling me everything would be alright, that we would be together, that he had a plan.”

“So Mr Tomlinson was with you when you found Mr Cardell’s body?” Jack clarified.

“Yes”. Harry sighed “When I had calmed down a bit I realised it had started to get cold and I was shivering. Of course Louis noticed, he always looks out for me, he said we should go back to our room and warm up.” Harry blushed and coughed slightly. “But on the walk back we noticed some bushes had been trampled just off the path. Louis said to come away as it might be some wild animal, but I know this resort doesn’t allow dangerous wildlife to roam. I walked over to take a closer look and that’s when I saw him, Ben, lying face down. I don’t know how I knew but i just knew he wasn’t breathing and when I turned him over I saw so much blood on his face, or rather what was once his face!”

Harry stopped talking then, breathing heavily and looking like he was very close to vomiting. After catching his breath he continued “I am afraid to say I lost the contents of my stomach. Louis tried to calm me down and said he would stay with the body, while I went to get help, I think he knew that sending me to do something constructive was the best way to distract me from a panic attack”

“And how did Mr Tomlinson himself react to the discovery?” Jack prompted.

“Like you would expect him too if you knew Louis” Harry replied with firmness back in his voice. “His first concern was me and my reaction. He kept his emotions together until we were safely back in our room and then trust me he cried hard! We neither of us liked Ben but we know what we owed him and no one should ever have to die in such a gruesome way.”

At that point Harry did look like he really might be sick so Jack carefully escorted him back out to the others, where Mr Tomlinson immediately leapt up and guided him back to the sofa, taking him tightly in his arms and sending dagger laden scowls in Jack’s direction.

Jack had previously had every intention to question Mr Tomlinson next based on what he had just learnt. However something told him he would not get anything out of the smaller man if he took him from Harry now, while Harry needed his comfort. He instead called for Mr Horan to join him in the office.


	4. Niall

Mr Horan entered the office looking much more laid back than Harry had. However, the first thing he said was less laid back than his demeanor suggested. “Did you have to upset Harry so much, he’s been through enough already!”

Jack responded sincerely, “I am sorry this is upsetting for him, but in my experience murders usually are. I am sure you all want to be able to wrap this up and move on?”

Mr Horan sighed. “Sure. So come on Inspector question me, I am at your disposal!”

“Thank you” Jack replied. “Let’s start with the holiday arrangements. Whose idea was it to come here?”

“That would be Ben” Niall replied quickly “We don’t choose our itinerary, except for a week at Christmas most years.”

“Most years?” Jack questioned.

“Last Christmas we had to work. That was really hard for all of us, especially as Ben gave himself the week off! Almost like a taunt that was. Ben liked a bit of power play, but I found it best not to bite.”

“What about the other boys?” Jack questioned. “Well Liam’s like me, anything for a quiet life, but Louis and Zayn were really angry and Harry is very emotional and struggles not to wear his heart on his sleeve.”

“So tell me about this break?” Jack requested.

“Well Ben had been promising a break after the last tour, but then there was promo for the next single release to do. One day though, after we had done a round of US TV promo, Ben announced that he was booking us a two week break on St Marie in early September. He said it was a private resort and that we would be left completely alone. The best part was that he and the crew were not coming so it really was down time for us. We were all ecstatic and really looking forward to it, but when the following week Ben came and said that there was a double booking and the break had to be put back a couple of weeks, I’ll admit we feared it was another of Ben’s mind games.”

“And was it?” Jack asked.

“Well I didn’t think so” Niall continued “He seemed to be good to his word as the departure date arrived and the break wasn’t cancelled, although with hindsight alarm bells should have rung when Ben insisted on bringing us here himself.”

“Was that unusual?” 

“Well we didn’t get breaks so not sure there is a usual in this particular scenario, however Ben was always clear that we worked for him and not the other way round. So for him to drive us around wasn’t normal. It didn’t register though until he came back two days after he dropped us off and cancelled the rest of the stay. 

“Tell me about that day?” Mr Horan

“Well it was obviously not a good one” Mr Horan replied, “and please call me Niall!” 

“Ok Niall it is” Jack replied, actually quite relieved himself. Niall seemed young and laid back and a formal title some how did not suit him.

“Well” Niall continued “ Yesterday was a lovely morning and I decided to go for a walk along the beach, it’s so beautiful I was probably out there just enjoying the peace for a few hours. When I came back I could sense a level of tension in the air. When the receptionist told me Ben was back I wasn’t that worried at first, but when I went upstairs and picked up on the agitation levels with the other boys I will admit that my heart sank. Sure enough when we met him in the bar Ben told us that he had picked up some urgent bookings and we had to cut our break short and leave the next day. Well there is cutting a break and there is completely eliminating it and this was definitely the later. Louis and Zayn were furious, shouting at Ben, Harry was just sitting there quietly with tears running down his face and Liam had that really stressed look on his face that I find most worrying, as he only get it when he knows things are really bad.”

“Next thing I know Harry started to have a panic attack, and even Louis couldn’t calm him down and he ran out”

“The whole thing was such a shock after the blissful morning on the beach, that I couldn't stay there, I headed back to my room to calm down too.”

“Did that work?”

“No not really I had heard Louis come back to the room alone and I just couldn’t relax thinking Harry was outside on his own. I know Louis can be really stubborn when it comes to Harry and that if he had decided that Harry needed space I would not be able to change his mind so I thought I should go myself to check Harry was OK. If I am honest the idea of going back down to the beach was quite appealling and I hoped that might be where Harry had gone. I went to reception and Rita told me she had seen Harry leave but did not know where he had gone, so I opted to try the beach”

“Did you find him?” Jack asked

“Not immediately, I decided to check the gardens on the way but made it down the beach in about 30 minutes. That’s where I saw him, he was sitting down by the waters edge head on his knees shaking. I thought about going up to him, but I didn’t want to disturb him thinking that maybe he did really need alone time, after all that is what I was enjoying earlier that morning on the beach.”

“So did you leave him there then?” Jack wondered.

“No!” Niall answered shock in his voice “Noi way! He was in no state to be left so I decided to sit where he couldn’t see me and keep an eye to ensure he was OK, I hoped Louis would sort his head out and come looking for him before long. But when Harry laid down and looked like he might have fallen to sleep a couple of hours later I decided enough was enough and I needed to go and fetch Louis myself. Ultimately when Harry is like that it’s Louis he wants and I knew Louis would come when he realised how broken Harry was.”

“So you went back to the hotel? Did you see anyone else on your way back?”

“No” Niall replied, it was starting to get dark, which made me realise quite how long we had been on that beach, but I didn’t see anyone until I got back to the hotel reception.”

“Who was at reception?” Jack checked.

“Just Rita the receptionist, I remember it was her and not the manager as she had taken her jacket off and we made small talk about what a hot night it was before I checked that Louis was still in his room and not already out looking for Harry.”

“And he was?” 

“Yes he was, so I went up there and told him to get his arse down to Harry on the beach. He said he couldn’t go because he was too angry and Harry hated to see him like that. When I told Louis about Harry sleeping on the beach though he panicked saying anything could happen to him and literally marched out of there!”

“Did you follow him?”

“No I knew Louis would have things covered so I decided to go back to my room and calm down with the aid of the mini bar”

“Did you see anyone else that evening?”

“I think I heard Liam and Zayn going into Liam’s room which was next to mine.” Niall said.

“Why did you think it was both of them?” Jack enquired. “Well I heard whispering and if anyone is to be found whispering with Liam it’s generally going to be Zayn.” Jack noted that piece of information for further follow up with Mr Payne and Mr Malek but for now just wanted to hear the end of Niall’s account.

“It was about an hour later that I heard shouting downstairs and went down to the foyer to investigate and found Harry, in a state about he and Louis having discovered Ben’s body.”

Jack had that encounter on CCTV and therefore did not feel he needed to explore further. Instead he wanted to explore another line of enquiry for which he needed to speak to Dwayne and JP so he decided he might as well wrap this particular interview up with Niall.

“Ok thank you Niall” he said you have been very helpful, please could you rejoin your bandmates in the bar area. He indicated towards the door and Niall rose, slightly brushing down the crinkles in his linen shorts and headed out of the office door. Jack followed him, noting with pleasure that Dwayne and JP had arrived back from the trip to the lab and the examination of the grounds respectively. He beckoned them into the office, deliberately avoiding looking across at the boys sitting on the sofas.

“Chief” Dwayne said as soon as the office door was closed, I thought we should show you this, JP found this note under the mat just inside the door of Mr Cardell’s chalet. We think it might have been posted through but gotten pushed under the mat when the door was opened and hence missed by whoever had entered the chalet - presumably Mr Cardell himself.”

Dwayne passed the note to Jack and he opened it, the writing in block capitals was written, if Jack was not mistaken, with a blue biro pen. It read “YOUR CONTRACT WILL MEAN NOTHING WHEN YOU ARE DEAD”

Well that was very definitely a clue, Jack could not deny and it kind of took the wind out of the sails of the next step in the investigation he had already decided on. “OK Dwayne and JP I need you to contact Mr Cardell’s company lawyer and get copies of any contracts that are held between the company and the boys of One Direction.” 

“On it chief” the two men saluted slightly as they headed for the door, “We will go back to the police house and make the enquiries from there Chief” Dwayne clarified before heading out of the bar altogether. 

Jack returned to the bar and the five young men on the sofa. Harry appeared to be sleeping on Mr Tomlinson’s shoulder and he was shooting Jack the kind of look which just dared him to get anything out of him if it meant waking the younger man up, from what was probably a much needed rest. So instead Jack looked at the other two men he had yet to speak to. Mr Payne and Mr Malik were still seated next to one another and watching him from wary eyes. 

Jack tried to decide which of the two he would wish to speak to first but in the end opted for the closest. “Mr Payne, I wonder if you might spare me a few minutes please” he asked.

Mr Payne nodded, and gave Mr Malik’s thigh a gentle squeeze before getting up to follow Jack into the office.


	5. Liam

Once they were sat down inside the office Mr Payne immediately broke the silence by saying “Please call me Liam, I have never been comfortable with formal conversations. My mum says my biggest fault is that I want everyone to be my friend. Um not that I expect you to be my friend, I know this is a serious police investigation! My other fault is probably that I talk too much and don’t always engage the brain, sorry”

Jack suppressed a chuckle, which would definitely have been unprofessional, it was just that at that moment Liam seemed like a giant puppy dog who just wanted to make his master love him. God who were these totally intriguing and really rather likeable young men? Jack was definitely beginning to appreciate they were not the stereotype of self absorbed, spoiled rock stars.

“Ok Liam” he replied, you can call me Jack too, Inspector Mooney does I admit sound a little formal.

“So I have asked to speak with you privately to hear about your relationship with Mr Cardell and hear your account of the events of the last couple of days please?” he continued.

“Hmmm, that's a big topic, where would you like me to start?” Liam asked 

“Well how about telling me if you were looking forward to this trip as much as the other boys I have spoken to appear to have been?”

Liam did not hesitate to nod his head vigorously. “God yes!” we needed the break badly.

“We?” Jack prompted “You mean the band?”

“Well yes, but also Zayn and I.” Liam continued. “Zayn has anxiety you see and we had no time to come down between the last few shows of the tour. I was worried for his health, he never asks for help, but I knew he needed time out.”

“Had you raised your concerns to Mr Cardell?” Jack enquired, interested in this piece of information.

Liam actually huffed at that “Yes of course, I always do.” he replied somewhat indignantly “But Ben just suggested we get Zayn something to aid his sleeping. I do not want Zayn addicted to that crap it’s bad stuff. Zayn and I argued about it but he said he would not take anything as it mattered so much to me.”

“But you were worried that he couldn’t hold out much longer?” Jack suggested.

“Yes i was, that is why I was so pleased when the break finally came around. But it wasn’t just for Zayn’s sake. Louis gets it worse than any of us and it seems Ben had been really gunning for him these last few months, giving him more and more PR to do, and all the things he knew upset Harry, caused problems between those two. Louis needed to have some quality time with Harry, he deserved that!”

“You seem very fond of Louis?” Jack stated not particularly prompting an answer, but Liam gave him one anyway.

“Yes Louis looks after us all and would take a fall for any of us, we in turn try to look out for him however we can. He’s like our shared older brother. I felt bad because I was so worried for Zayn that I had backed away from standing up for Louis. I didn’t want Ben to turn his attention to me and Zayn, he doesn’t know we have a relationship. Having seen how he has manipulated Harry and Louis because of their feelings for each other we couldn’t let him know. I needed to keep Zayn safe but it felt awful, like I was just leaving Louis out there fighting a lone battle.”

“So when Mr Cardell came back to the resort and interrupted the break it must have been hard for you?”

“Yes it was. Zayn and I had a really lovely day in our room, let’s say getting re-acqualinted” Liam blushed very visibly and Jack tried to hide a little smirk. “So when Niall came to tell us that Ben was here and wanted us in the bar Zayn panicked a bit, I tried to assure him that it was probably nothing. It didn’t help though and he had one of his episodes.”

“Episodes?” Jack enquired.

“Yes when he’s really stressed it’s like his emotions shut down, he goes quiet and distant. In this instance it probably helped as Ben just thought he was being aloof and that he wasn’t bothered about the break particularly. I was worried though, that’s why we stayed down in the bar drinking, I was hoping Zayn would snap out of the haze if he was interacting. I also knew that Harry and Louis needed some time alone after Ben broke the news and thought it would be better if we kept Ben occupied with us.”

“So you stayed in the bar with Mr Cardell until when?” Jack asked

“I must have been around 7.30pm. Ben I think had enough of just talking to me and the odd nod and mutter that Zayn was adding to the mix was not stimulating him. He said he was going to his room and left.”

“What did you and Zayn do then?”

“Zayn said he needed another drink so we stayed”

“Did you just have the one?”

“We weren’t going to but when we ordered the next round Sam the bar man said we had finished the bottle and he had to nip to the cellar for another. While he was gone Zayn perked up a bit and asked if we could go out to the smoking area for a smoke. We went through the patio door and had a couple of ciggies. After that Zayn seemed a bit better and asked if we could go for a walk, so we hopped over the little picket fence rather than going back through the bar.”

“Where did you go?”

Laim blushed again. “Um we walked down to the pool, there was no one around and it was such a hot night we stripped off and jumped in.”

“So you were in the pool for how long?” 

“Well we weren’t watching the time particularly but I guess we were in the water for about an hour and then we probably spent another 20 minutes or so drying out on the sunbeds in the warm night air, before we decided to go back inside.”

“Did anyone see you during that time?”

Liam flushed red at that, “God I hope nope, we weren’t actually very decent.”

“But you aren’t sure?” Jack prompted. 

“Well let’s just say we were distracted!” Liam flushed again.

“So after about an hour and a half you decided to go back inside, did you go back to your rooms?”

“Yes we went back to my room.” Liam replied.

“Did you see anyone on you way back?” 

“Not until we got back to the hotel, then we saw the receptionist.”

“To speak to?” Jack asked

“Well we said evening” Liam stated

“Did see she you?” Jack asked with interest.

“Well I guess as she said “good evening” back, I am not sure if she looked up or not though” Liam clarified. 

“Ok” Jack gestured for Liam to continue his account.

“So we went back to my room and by that time Zayn seemed ok to talk about things so I asked him if he was really OK with leaving tomorrow. I think that’s when he stopped holding it together and broke down. I held him while he cried and I tell you what, right then I could have happily killed Ben myself.” He looked up shocked perhaps realising that he had said too much. “But that’s when we heard Niall’s door slam next door and I said I would go and check what was going on. I followed the sound of voices down to the foyer and that’s when I caught the end of Harry telling everyone that he and Louis had found Ben.”

Jack reflected on Liam’s statement. The thing is the fact that he and Zayn had left the building did not match with other accounts or the CCTV footage. But then again being in the bar with the manager was the perfect alibi so why would Liam lie and destroy that alibi. He needed to speak to Zayn next and test out whether his account matched.

As Jack was leading Liam back into the bar Dwayne and JP entered the room with a stack of fax papers. “Chief can we have a word Dwayne panted out”

Jack pointed to the now empty office but signalled to Florence to stay behind with the band, he didn’t want Liam briefing Zayn before he had a chance to speak to him


	6. Zayn

Jack lead the two junior officers into the office, turning to give them an enquiring look when the door was safely closed.

“So Sir” Dwayne led off “We did as you asked and contacted the management company’s Lawyer to ask for a list of contracts. Mr Humphries, the senior partner was happy to help, but he also enquired as to whether we wished to see the personal contracts Mr Cardell held himself. It seems Mr Cardell did not always enter into contracts with the knowledge of his company. Mr Humphries has transferred a list of contracts and the full copies to our police secure drop box.”

Jack was a bit taken aback at this information. If contracts were held directly with Mr Cardell rather than the management company then his death would make any existing contract of that type void. Given the note discovered at Mr Cardells cabin, this was definitely worth investigating further.

“Ok Dwayne I want you to check whether Mr Cardell had any direct contracts with the band members and, if so, what the nature of those contracts were. In the meantime I need to check out an inconsistent alibi of Mr Payne’s with Mr Malik so can you send him through on your way out please?

“Sure thing Chief” Dwayne responded “Come on JP, we have files to check” 

After Dwayne and JP left the room Jack only had a minute to sit and ponder on the motivation for Ben holding direct contracts before a sullen looking Zayn Malik entered the room. The man silently took a seat without saying a word. Jack recalled Liam saying that Zayn had anxiety attacks which caused him to be withdrawn so he spoke in a gentle tone of voice hoping to calm him somewhat.

“Thank you for your time Mr Malik. As you know I have just been speaking to Liam. He seems like a very caring and well balanced young man and obviously very fond of you.”

That was the right thing to say it seemed as Zayn seemed eager to speak up in support of his secret partner. “Liam is a great man, kind and supportive and trust me he would harm no one.”

“You know I am inclined to believe that” Jack said somewhat surprising himself by realising that he probably did think that. “The question is, I guess, would you?” 

“Would I?” Zayn sounded a little shocked that Jack had cut straight to the point. “Would I have killed Ben? Absolutely, if I thought it would help, the man was pure evil. But you see he is just a product of the music industry and if he wasn’t there someone else would only step into his shoes.”

“Better the devil you know?” Jack offered up.

“Something like that. But also I am not lying about Liam not harming anyone, I could not have faced his disappointment in me if I had acted in anger. Lord knows I disappoint Liam enough when I don’t cope with stuff.”

“He didn’t sound disappointed in you when we spoke earlier, more like worried.”

“He’s worried that I will go back on the hard drugs to cope.” Zayn answered frankly.

“And is he right to worry?” Jack enquired

“No I have tried that, and I am only here today because Liam fought so hard to get me clean. I am never going to do that to him again, whatever they throw at me!”

“Well I am glad to hear that.” Jack comments. “I wonder if you can tell me in your own words what happened yesterday?”

“Well the morning was great just me and Liam in our happy place, I actually felt safe and relaxed for the first time in a long while. I had just been telling Liam how good I was feeling when Niall banged on the door to say Ben was back and we had to go to the bar. I won’t deny I didn’t react well I felt my chest tightening and I knew if I didn’t concentrate on breathing I was going to have a full blown attack. I was on holiday and didn’t want that, so I tried to switch off and think of anything other than Ben. I think we went to the bar but I don’t remember it at all, Liam says that Ben told us we were heading home the next day and that all I did was sit silently and drink. He said he kept me there knowing that he had to keep me active until I came back to myself.

“And did you?” Jack prompted, thinking how terribly convenient it would be for Zayn to have no recollection of the afternoon and evening.

“Yes” Zayn replied, “First thing I remember was Liam ordering another round of drinks at the bar and the bar man leaving to fetch something from the cellar. I think being alone and being able to touch Liam helped and suddenly I was desperate for a cigarette so we went out onto the patio to grab one.

“How long were you on the patio before you went back inside?” Jack thought he would see if Zayn would be flustered by a seeming trap as according to Liam they had not returned to the bar. 

“We were outside smoking for probably 15 minutes” Zayn replied and Jack realised he was holding his breath.

“But we didn’t go back inside, it suddenly didn’t feel right, that bar man had been watching us and I wanted Li and I to be alone. I wanted to hold him so I suggested we take a walk. We walked through the grounds until we found the pool. It was lit up and looked inviting and I wanted badly to see Liam smile so I suggested we jump in. Liam loves when I am spontaneous, he is the sensible one.”

“Did he smile?” Jack asked, he wasn’t sure why but somehow he felt that he wanted to hear that the sad puppy eyed man he met earlier had something to smile about. Zayn’s odd look back however reminded him that he was not sure he believed this story as it didn’t match other accounts.

“Yes he did” Zayn answered softly “he smiled while we were at the pool and then all the way back to our room, and until we heard the commotion downstairs. He hasn’t smiled since though.” At that Zayn cast his eyes downwards and gave off the definite vibes that the conversation was over.

Jack knew he could push for more but did not know whether he wanted to. One more question however popped into his head.

“Mr Malik did you have a contract with Mr Cardell directly or was it with his management company?” Zayn looked hesitant at that. “Well I assume with the company” he said “Our lawyers handled the details and kept the copies once signed, I don’t think we ever saw who signed for the team. Why do you ask?”

“Well if the contract was with Mr Cardell it would be terminated on his death. You might want to check with your lawyers” Jack suggested reading the apparent genuine look of shock on Zayn’s face. His years of experience were telling him that Zayn was giving a true account, but the hard evidence of the CCTV didn’t support that, there was no record of the two men coming back to the hotel from the grounds when they said they did. He would need to check the footage again, but first he needed to speak to the final witness, LouisTomlinson.


	7. Louis

Jack walked Zayn back to the bar, noting the relieved look on Liam’s face as his partner joined him back on the sofa. He pulled Zayn into his side and kissed his forehead, and the two men were back in their own world. 

Jack then looked over at Harry who was now awake and looking very upset. Louis met Jack’s eyes with a look of angry resignation, seemingly guessing that it was his turn to be questioned next. Louis turned to Niall and said “Niall can you come sit with Haz while I go speak to the inspector please?”

Jack noted Harry tense up but Louis looked at him and said quietly “It’s alright baby I have nothing to hide I promise.” 

Louis got up slowly and walked up to Jack, catching him by reaching out to shake hands. “Ok Inspector I guess I should apologise for my earlier behaviour” Louis stated as Jack took his hand. “I was angry and I took it out on you, which was unfair as you are just doing your job.”

“No worries, Louis, can I call you Louis?” as Louis nodded in affirmation he continued “I have had much worse reactions believe me. Shall we go to the office?”

Louis nodded once more, turned to smile at Harry and then followed Jack though to the office. Once seated he immediately spoke out. “ I guess you want to know if I killed Ben. Well I wish I had, I wish I had thought it would be worth it. I hated him and that’s no exaggeration.” 

“Well that was unequivocal” Jack exclaimed. “Care to explain what you mean by that?”

“Yes - killing Ben would have been counterproductive. I hated him for keeping Harry and I apart and for the pain it caused Harry. Murdering him was only going to lead to seperation of another kind and anyway Ben is just the front man for an industry that will not let Harry and I be who we are, too much money rests on the whole straight white boy image they have built for us.”

“So you didn’t kill him you say, but did you have contact with him after the meeting in the bar in the afternoon?” Jack queried.

“No not until Haz and I found the body. When he told us that we were cutting our stay short I was so angry, I could have throttled him there and then, I struggled to hold back, but Harry was distraught and my lashing out was not going to help. When Harry ran out of the bar I thought to follow him but I reached the foyer and realised I was too angry and if we spoke then we would just fight, because Harry would offer to leave the band again, or I would and neither of us is willing to let the other sacrifice their dream of making and sharing music. So I decided instead to let Harry calm down outside and I went to the privacy of our room where I couldn’t lash out at anyone.”

“How long did you stay in your room?” Jack enquired, wondering if it had been all afternoon and evening as Niall had suggested.

“I stayed there until I felt calmer, probably around 7.30pm. Once I calmed down I really started to worry about Harry, I thought he would have been back by then but he wasn’t and so I decided to go downstairs to find the others or to ask at reception to see if anyone knew where he was. When I got downstairs though there was no one on reception to ask”

“No one on reception?” Jack interrupted confused, the CCTV footage having shown Rita covering reception all evening. 

“No one at all, so I went into the bar, very much hoping not to bump into Ben but needing to find the other boys. There was no one there either and I started to become a little concerned. I went back upstairs and knocked on the other boys doors but there was no answer at any. By that time I was getting really worried as to what was going on. Every urge told me to go out into the grounds to find Harry but I didn’t want to risk him coming back and missing me, I hoped he was somewhere with the other boys and not on his own. In the end I convinced myself to go back to our room and wait.”

“About an hour later Niall knocked on the door demanding to know why I was just sitting in my while while letting Harry cry himself to sleep alone on the beach! He yelled at me to go to him and stopped being an idiot. When I heard that Harry was asleep on the beach I panicked, anything could happen! I rushed down to the beach full of guilt.”

“Did anyone see you?” Jack checked

“I wasn’t aware of anyone, but if I am honest I am not sure I would have noticed anyway, all my thoughts were on getting to Harry as quickly as possible. I raced down to the beach where I found him still asleep, I pulled him into my arms waking him up and just held him as we both cried and apologised for not being there for each other”

“How long were you on the beach for?” Jack enquired

“Probably about an hour, until it started to get cool enough to feel uncomfortable in our daytime clothes. We decided to go back to our room to warm up.”

Jack managed to stop himself from smirking at the recognition of what warming up probably entailed, for goodness sake he was a professional, this was a murder enquiry!

“We found the beach path and started back to the main building, until Harry noticed trampled bushes at the side of the path being typical Harry just had to go explore! I wish so much that he hadn’t been the one to find Ben like that. He was distraught and threw up, I was scared he was going to have a full blown panic attack and did the only thing I could think of to distract him, sending him back to the others to find help.”

“But you didn’t go with him, even though you were so worried about him?” Jack asked.

“No, whatever I felt about Ben, it didn’t feel right to just leave him there on his own, a bloody mess. I tried to find a pulse and see if there was anything I could do, even though I think the rational part of me saw the head wound and knew he was dead. I was so angry with him again for making Harry witness this, even though obviously that was not his fault at all.”

“It was about 10 minutes before the manager and receptionist came and took over, when I heard they had called the police, I felt it was OK to leave and go and find Harry, so I went back to the main building. I found Harry with the other boys in the foyer and after explaining to them what had happened I took Harry back upstairs to our room,”

Jack was just about to thank Louis for the interview, having he felt heard the details he needed when Dwayne knocked on the door and entered with JP. “Sorry Chief” Dwayne said in his usual lilting tones but we found something when checking through the papers we talked about that I really think you will want to see.”

Jack was intrigued at what it was that had seemed so important to Dwayne that he had felt the need to interrupt his interview with Louis. “Alright I think we are finished here anyway, JP can you take Louis back to the others please, and also let them know that they are free to go back to their rooms now. Ask Mr Jones if we might continue to use the office, we have these papers to check and I would also like to re-watch the CCTV.”

At the mention of the CCTV he noticed Louis raise his eyebrows slightly, perhaps he had not realised there was footage. That was interesting he thought, as Louis nodded slightly acknowledging his dismissal and followed JP out of the door. Jack watched through the glass panel as Harry ran over to Louis and hugged him tightly, pressing his face into the smaller man's neck. He had apparently been waiting at the bar door watching for Louis coming out on the office. Whatever the truth behind the events here was, he knew that those two men were unequivocally genuinely in love, and he also knew that kind of love was the type many people had killed for before.

Sighing slightly he turned his face back to Dwayne and the documents he was still brandishing with a look of victory on his face. 

“So Chief it seems like a lot of the business Mr Cardell conducted was not necessary under the umbrella of the record label he worked for. There are very many NDAS and contracts just signed by him personally with no links to the company. If you look down the list you might be interested in two names highlighted in yellow with contracts from last year.”

Jack cast his eyes down the list, gasping when he saw the names in question. “Do you have the contracts concerned” he excitedly asked.

“Yes Chief, right here” Dwayne responded, waving a second bundle of papers. 

“Pass them over, I best have a look and then we are definitely reviewing that CCTV footage. Can you call JP nd Florence in please Dwayne”

“Right on it Chief!” Dwayne mock saluted and exited the office, leaving Jack to read the contract and NDAs in the bundle that Dwayne had left.


	8. The Reveal

The contract papers were very revealing indeed bringing two of the suspects right to the forefront of Jack’s suspicions, if it wasn’t for the story the CCTV footage evidenced, so once all three of his colleagues were in the room Jack instructed them all to watch the CCTV re-run with him from the point when Mr Cardell arrived, they must have missed something!

They watched Mr Cardell arrive at 2pm and check in with Rita at reception, before Harry arrived in the foyer and they had the anxious exchange leading to Harry leaving and Mr Cardell heading into the bar.

A few minutes later Niall arrived from the beach, spoke to Rita for a while before heading up to his room. Shortly after, all 5 young men returned and crossed the foyer to the bar. Harry looking as upset as he seemed on the first viewing, grasping Louis’s hand firmly. Louis himself looked fiercely angry, but on second viewing and having gotten to know the man slightly, Jack picked up on anxiety and protectiveness that he had missed before. Niall clearly picked up on that too as he was trying to calm his friend whispering to him and rubbing his arm gently. Liam and Zayn followed behind obviously thoughtful, Liam nodding to Rita on reception as they passed by.

The foyer was then quiet for about 5 minutes with only Rita working behind the desk until Sam came out to join her.

After about half an hour Harry came running out into the foyer and crossed to the front door. Jack realised he hadn’t noticed Louis come to the bar door on the first watch, being too distracted watching Harry. Louis looked after Harry looking torn before crossing the foyer the other way and going up to his room, shortly followed by Niall. 

Mr Cardell came to the reception desk about five minutes later, spoke for a while and was then followed back to the bar by Sam. Niall re-entered the foyer and went out the front door, presumably to follow Harry as he had said. It was then quiet again with just Rita working until probably 30 mins later when Mr Cardell came back out and picked up his key before leaving for his chalet.

After that point nothing much happened for a couple of hours of the recording and Jack just fast forwarded watching Rita behind the desk in forward motion, until Niall came back. Jack slowed the video down then to check the exchange at the reception desk. That’s when he noticed Niall’s hand! He quickly hit the pause button so that he could look closely to be sure. Jack’s eyes jumped from Niall’s hand to Rita standing behind the desk. On looking over to Rita he jumped up and yelled out to Dwayne! “Rewind to when Mr Cardell first arrived” Dwayne dutifully did so and Jack watched the next 20 minutes of footage before jumping up triumphantly.

“Assemble everyone in the bar Florence” he half shouted “We have our solution, I know exactly what happened leading up to Mr Cardell’s murder!”

It took about 30 minutes before all the members of the band and the two staff members were once again all sitting assembled in the bar. All five band members were looking anxious and uncomfortable and Jack felt the need to try to put everyone at ease a bit, in his experience these conversations always went better if the audience were relaxed enough to be able to concentrate.

“Thank you all for taking the time to meet with us, and thank you also to those of you who have been so open and honest. Fully understanding the relationship Mr Cardell had with the band and the relationship you all have with each other helped me make sense of things I could so easily have missed.”

Jack detected the the slightly confused looks on the faces of all five of the band members and decided to give a bit more detail to his words. 

“When I first arrived and noted the tension between you boys I thought we were going to expose your stereotypical tale of inband jealousy and rivalries. Instead I found only love and support between you all. The only anger that was there was toward Mr Cardell and obviously, given his murder, that made you all key suspects.”

The boys looked at each other and it struck Jack that the anxiety on their faces was not an anxiety over actions any of them had taken. They had obviously had the opportunity to debrief each other whilst Jack and his team had been rewatching the CCTV. There were no secrets with this band, they trusted each other, the anxiety was more in relation to whether he had come to the wrong conclusions around what had happened. Probably only fair that he got on with sharing what he knew then, he thought.

“All of you had binding contracts that you are unhappy with. Your management require you to fit an image that you are not comfortable with, this holiday was a long awaited chance for you to be yourselves. Something particularly important to those of you hiding relationships.” he reflected. “My first clue was hearing you referring to the contracts you had signed with your management company. I went to the company lawyers to ask for those contracts, which I am willing to guess that none of you have seen since you signed them. Dwayne could you pass the young men a copy of their individual contracts please?” he added.

He watched as Dwayne handed the individual band members their own batch of signed copies. “Could you all please turn to the signature page at the end of one of the contracts in your pile? Any will do as they are all the same.”

Jack watched as all of the young men flicked through the papers and stopped on a signature page, eyes scanning for the thing they were supposed to notice. Louis was the first to realise, which Jack was not surprised by, he knew he was a bright lad. Louis peered at the signatures and then raised his eyebrows. He turned to Harry who still looked confused and pointed to the name under the second signature before saying out loud in a slightly shaky voice, “The contract is signed by Ben himself, not by management”.

“Exactly right Louis” Jack confirmed “It seems your images were driven by Mr Cardell rather than your management team, and more importantly for you, with Mr Cardell’s passing, all those contracts are now void. Obviously that is your classic motivation for murder!” he added. At that all eyes in the room turned to him in shock.

Jack let a moment or two pass for effect, very Poirot of him he thought. “Except” he then added dramatically “None of you band members knew that Mr Cardell was the sole party to the contracts. You never saw the final signed copies, your lawyers held those. Lawyers which frankly I would advise you to consider changing in the near future” He added, with a wink, maybe not quite so Poirot like!

“It would seem that Mr Cardell used contracts quite commonly when he acted outside the authority of his management company. In fact you gentlemen were not the only people in this room with such contracts. When we asked for a list of all contracts there were two other names that stood out. At this he dramatically turned toward the two staff members. Dwayne would you like to hand Sam and Rita their copies”

At that all five boys drew a sharp intake of breath and as one collective swivelled their heads towards Sam and Rita, who appeared slightly sheepish but not shocked. “Obviously we had NDAs with Mr Cardell they said as if it would be natural. All staff have NDAs with all the guests wishing to stay here will full privacy.”

“But why with Ben directly?” Louis asked with evident confusion.

“A very good question” Jack congratulated “A privacy NDA surely would be with yourselves or under the umbrella of your management team. However an NDA about something concerning Mr Cardell directly would be different. Sam and Rita I think if you check the papers we just handed to you, you will note that there are two NDAs each. One is indeed with the management team, the other with Mr Cardell directly. Florence perhaps you could read the first line of the top document in Rita’s possession please?”

“Certainly sir” Florence confirmed as she leant over Rita and relieved her of the paper in question. “I Miss Rita Jones agree in binding contract of law to not disclose any details of my intimate relationship with Mr Ben Cardell” 

At this Jack saw a look of resignation appear in Rita’s eyes fleetingly, he looked to Sam who looked determined. “Sam I believe if we were to read yours out it would be similar wording?” 

At that there was a gasp in the room once more and Rita began to sob quietly. 

Sam stood up angrily. “Yes ok we had motivation too, he exclaimed. Mr Cardell first came here about 18 months ago and told my sister Rita that she had talent and he could make her big in the industry. He stayed on after his other guests left, he treated her well and I thought maybe he was seriously interested, so I let my guard down a bit. I agreed to meet him in his room to talk about me joining his management team so I could be close to my sister as he supported her to make it in the industry. But that night he slipped me something in my drink and I came round naked in his bed. He was touching me intimately and told me that I was a good boy and how it had been his little fantasy to have a brother and sister together. When I tried to pull away he informed me that he could ruin my sister’s life if I said anything about this and then he made me sign the NDA. He left that morning and we never heard from him again until he called to make this booking.”

“That’s when you saw the opportunity to murder him?” Jack suggested.

“No!” Sam shouted “I wanted him dead yes, but I have an alibi, we have an alibi, we didn’t do it.”

“Exactly what I thought” Jack stated. “How could you have killed Mr Cardell when the CCTV showed you in the bar all night and Rita behind reception?”

“Unfortunately for you there was a flaw in your alibi because Liam and Zayn contested that you did indeed leave the bar. I am guessing you were counting on the fact they had a more obvious motive than yourselves and that, alongside the CCTV verification we would believe you.”

“What you cannot have known when you planned this was that the boys of One Direction have a very honest and trusting relationship with each other and that they would all be so open and honest in their interviews, not one of them believing in the guilt of the others. An honesty that I must say led me to question whether despite their obvious motivation to be free of Mr Cardell, there was not more to this story.”

“Finding the contracts was the first clue but not the biggest clue, that came in the second watch of the CCTV footage, you see young Niall told us in quite clear detail of the two times he left the hotel on that day. The first time he went to the beach where he collected some shells and on returning spoke to Rita, who informed him of Mr Cardell’s arrival. The second occasion he returned looking for Louis and once again went to reception to ask about his whereabouts. On that occasion he remembers commenting on the humid night as Rita had removed her jacket, and yet on the footage we see the jacket clearly still in place. Now that might be Mr Horan’s mistaken memory, except when we zoom in we can clearly see Niall holding the same shells we see in the earlier footage. So I put it to you that the footage from CCTV that night has been edited and the exact timeline during which Mr Cardell is murdered is missing. Incidentally the same timeline for which the CCTV formed both Scott and Rita’s sole alibi”

There was an audible intake of breath at that moment in the room. “I think that when you Mr Jones took the booking from Mr Cardell you deliberately told him the only opening with this week, a week when you knew the owner was away and you would have sole access to the staff rotas and accomodation. Mr Cardell did not recognise you at first, 18 months is a long time, and the very long list on NDAs suggests he had many conquests in between. He left before you could confront him, so you called him back looking to blackmail him. That’s why the trip was to be cut short, Mr Cardell could not risk one of you revealing things to the band.”

“Rubbish” shouted Sam, but Rita was quietly sobbing “Don’t Sam” she said

“I did it Inspector. I went to Mr Cardell’s cabin to post a note, just to try to scare him. But he saw me and shouted out! I panicked and ran into the woods. But he followed me, he was angry and I was scared and picked up a brick to defend myself. He grabbed me and I swung. He fell and wasn’t moving. I went to find Sam, and he told me to stay in reception while he went to check. He went to the chalet to retrieve the note but he couldn’t find it” she sobbed “ then reception got busy and I couldn’t get away and then Mr Styles came in to report finding the body and it was just too late!”

Jack shook his head sadly, “Dwayne, Florence please can you arrest Miss Jones for manslaughter and Mr Jones for aiding and abetting and extortion.” 

Jack watched as the two were led out of the bar before turning his attention back to the stunned looking group of young men in front of him. He had something on his mind, but wasn’t sure if it was his place to say it. 

His internal debate was broken by the shaky voice of Louis “Thank you Inspector, we didn’t know” Jack looked up to see the small fiery young man suddenly looking so so vulnerable “I can’t believe we were so stupid, not checking those contracts!” 

At that Harry squeezed Louis’s hand, the one Jack realised he had been holding onto tightly and protectively since they had entered the room. “Lou, do you think that management knew? Do you think they would let us be together?”

Louis held Harry’s gaze saying nothing for what seemed like an age before shaking his head just slightly “I don’t know Haz, I don’t know.” he half whispered.

At that Jack felt he had to speak up. “I know this is not my business” he started “but I have seen many examples of abusers in my time, and Mr Cardell it seems was the classic example. One thing abusers have in common is the power they exert over those they control, and the fact that they hide that from everyone except those they are abusing, I would strongly suspect that your management team had no idea those contracts existed. Even if they did know and supported them I advise you to remember the contracts no longer stand, it’s your chance to take control and decide what path you want to take.”

At that Harry’s face noticeably lit up and on seeing the smile in place Louis also smiled with what Jack interpreted as a hint of hope. “Thank you inspector” he said sincerely “That sounds like good advice to me!” 

“Me too” came the voice of Liam, as Jack turned to him and was caught up in his big brown honest eyes which were glistening with emotion. 

“Good” Jack stated. It felt like a healthy way to leave these young men as he now had to go and fill out a ton of paperwork. “I look forward to seeing how things turn out for you from afar as I am hoping for obvious reasons we don’t run into each other in the line of work again!”

He nodded at the five smiling faces and then strode from the room to catch up with his team.


	9. Epilogue

Two days later, Jack and his team were at Catherine’s bar. Sam and Rita had just been transferred from Saint Marie’s small island police house to the police HQ on the mainland and that meant that they could have time off together, after two days of having to ensure round the clock cover.

Dwayne was happily flirting with a couple of local ladies and JP was with his fiance Rosey, looking as loved up as ever. That just left Jack to relax over a beer or two with Florence, who was always wonderful company.

He was just about to go to the bar to get a couple more drinks in when the Commissioner’s official car pulled up outside. Jack braced himself for the Commissioner to be fussing over something or other that Jack might have done or said, when he was pleasantly surprised to see the boys of One Direction climbing out of the car. He was even more pleasantly surprised to see that Louis and Harry were determinedly holding hands.

The boys scanned the bar until they spotted Jack and they strode up to him. “Hello Inspector” Liam greeted. “The commissioner lent his driver to go to the airfield. We are on our way home, but we wanted to come and thank you in person for what you said about us taking control of our destiny”

“After you left we called our management team” Louis continued. “We told them we wanted to come out, and do you know what they said?” 

Jack raised his eyes in enquiry, although he expected it was a rhetorical question. “They said about time too!” Louis said with a huge grin. “It seems that Ben told them it was us who wanted to preserve our straight image”.

“Harry and I are going to do an interview when we get back, so we can be out for our next tour. I can’t wait to sing my love songs in the way they were meant to be sung when I wrote them, with Harry right there next to me and me looking into his eyes!”

Harry blushed and looked down at his feet, before Louis reached across and lifted his chin up. They smiled at each other, appearing to have lost track of everyone else in the bar. Jack took that as a cue to turn to the other three boys.

“What about you boys?” He directed at Liam and Zayn “Will you be giving an interview too?”

“No” Liam smiled softly. “One coming out per tour is probably enough and Harry and Louis have been waiting much longer, I mean they are married. Zayn and I have family to speak to first and there’s always next tour!”

“We will enjoy planting little seeds though” Zayn said “ I was thinking maybe we could use the little rainbow bear toys Harry and Louis used to communicate to their families before”

Jack was wondering whatever these rainbow bears were when Niall groaned “Oh Jesus! Tour is going to be one massive love fest and I am going to be the gooseberry leprechaun!!” Zayn and Liam both laughed and hugged Niall. “You know we all have plenty of love for you Nialler” Zayn said.

“Lads we had better get going” Louis called across from the car where he was now standing with Harry’s head resting on his shoulder. 

The three remaining boys all shook Jack’s hand and walked over to the car. They climbed in, followed by Harry. Louis was about to follow them, when he suddenly turned and sprinted over to Jack. Jack did not have time to react before Louis was hugging him hard, “Thank you so much, you have changed our lives and we will never forget. Next time we are in Saint Marie we will check in on you and let you know how we are getting on. The owners of the resort have offered us free holidays for life to make up for their employees murdering our manager. I didn’t like to tell them that it wasn’t such a bad thing, it will be good to have a bolt hole if things ever get too much.”

At that Louis gave Jack another quick hug and ran back to the car. Jack and Florence watched as the car drove away and Jack couldn’t help smiling softly, before joining Florence in a small toast to the lovely boys of One Direction.

The End

Or is it?


End file.
